Lake County unveils realistic five‑year pavement preservation plan, supervisors press for clearer district rotation

Lake County Interim Public Works Director Lars Ewing on Wednesday presented a five‑year pavement preservation work plan that would target roughly 155 miles of chip seal over 2026–2030 and relies on recurring state and federal funding to sustain an expanded in‑house program.

Ewing described the proposal as "a realistic and financially viable plan," saying Public Works had returned to the "drawing board" to identify what the county’s road crew could reliably deliver. He told the board the county’s road network totals about 612 miles, of which roughly 464 are paved and 148 unpaved, and that a formal 2022 assessment by the Lake Area Planning Council put the countywide Pavement Condition Index (PCI) at about 34, in the poor range.

The plan centers on using county crews — a 28‑member road crew operating from three yards — to do the bulk of pavement preservation work, supplemented where necessary by contractors for specialized tasks such as oil…